Fire razes provision shops, corn mill in Hohoe

An early morning fire has gutted several shops, a restaurant, and corn and fufu mill in Hohoe.

The fire believed to have started at about 0430 hours on Sunday, destroyed goods running into thousands of cedis.

Master Dzayon Joshua, an eyewitness, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that at about 0430 hours, he saw smoke from the mill and rushed to the area.

He said by the time he got to the mill, the intensity of the fire increased and touched the electrical wires connected to the mill.

Master Dzayon said the fire then spread rapidly to the nearby shops.

Madam Hannah Amegbor, owner of Amen Chop Bar, one of the affected shops, said she received a distress call at about 0457 hours that fire had gutted her shop.

She said when she arrived, the first provision shop was already in flames and efforts to douse the fire proved futile.

Madam Amegbor said when they called the Hohoe Municipal Fire Service, they were told that the fire tender was spoilt, adding that the cause of the fire was unknown to her.

Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed, owner of one of the burnt provision shops, told GNA that he received a call at about 0500 hours and when he got to the scene, all goods were burnt, and he could not salvage anything.

Mr Wisdom Azumah, owner of the mill, said he had been operating since 1989 and it was the first time such an unfortunate incident had happened.

He noted that he had no faulty electrical connections that he deemed could be the cause of the fire as speculated.

Da Dzigbordi, Organiser, Hohoe Market Women Association, said they were appalled by the late response of fire officers and was disappointed that the fire tender at Hohoe was faulty.

Station Officer II (SOII) Osei Henry, Hohoe Municipal Fire Officer, told the GNA that at about 0500 hours, they received a call about the incident and when they arrived, the fire was well-lit.

He said the fire tender was faulty but a call was placed to the Kpando Division of the Service and they arrived at 0600 hours whilst the Hohoe officers were assisting in dousing the fire.

SOII Osei said at about 0700 hours the fire was brought under control, adding that the cause of the fire was still being investigated.

He noted that the callers called the 112 shortcode, which sent their information to Accra where Accra had to call Ho before Hohoe Division was then called by Ho.

SOII Osei noted that the Kpando Division came and assisted within a short period.

Mr Daniel Noble Awume, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), visited the scene while the Police were present to provide security at the scene.